This invention relates generally to an arrangement for guiding, during opening and closing, garage or closet door panels which are articulated relative to each other and relative to a stationary frame.
It is known to provide various types of doors for closets, garages and other enclosures. The awkwardness of rigid-panel doors has led to the development of more adaptable doors constituted of at least two panels, articulated relative to each other so as to be parallel to the plane of the door frame when closed, and perpendicular to that plane when open. Each door pane is formed of at least two such panels, joined to each other by a hinge and one of these panels being pivotally joined to one of the side joints of the door frame.
The panels of these doors are generally guided by pegs, which slide in channels formed in the head and the sill of the door frame. This type of door is difficult to build and adjust, and inconvenient to operate due to friction between the edges of the door panels and that channel on the one hand, and the friction of the guiding pegs within their channel on the other hand.
In his French Pat. No. 70-40839, granted Nov. 15, 1971, the applicant proposed to replace the pegs of the prior art by a roller which was rotatably mounted on a horizontal rod and run in a horizontal, laterally-opened, straight channel. The rod was connected to the outer panel of the closure assembly, that is, the panel remote from the hinging vertical frame member. This construction improved over the prior art in eliminating friction between the guiding pegs within the channels and between the edges of the door panels and that channel. One drawback found in this construction resided in that the joint was such that the guiding channel was positioned below the upper horizontal frame member and thus became visible when the closure assembly was open.
To obviate this new drawback, the applicant proposed an improvement in French patent of addition No. 71-01499 granted Aug. 7, 1972. According to this improvement, the joint of the main French Pat. No. 70-40839 was replaced by a crank with two vertical end shafts, one end shaft bearing a roller through a horizontal rod and the other end shaft being pivoted in a bracket to the outer door panel. This construction raised the roller and consequentially the laterally opened guiding channel. The guiding channel thus became at least partly invisible behind the upper horizontal frame member. This improvement presented another drawback in that the mechanical connection between the upper end shaft of the crank and the roller, through an ear and a rod, was too complicated.
In a second patent of addition No. 71-09561 granted Oct. 2, 1972, the applicant proposed a new improvement wherein the laterally opened guiding channel was replaced by a downwardly opened channel which accommodated a roller rotatably mounted directly on the upper end shaft of a crank. It was found in this construction that friction occurred between the guiding channel and the upper part of the vertical free edge of the outer panel of the closure assembly, this upper part being at an angle with the guiding channel for the main part of the movement of the closure assembly. As at the end of the closure movement, the outer panel of the closure assembly was linked to the frame only through the crank whose roller was free to slide in the channel, the vertical free edge of the outer panel could reach its final position, when outwardly offset in relation with the plane of the door. Thus the user had to push the outer panel inwardly to bring it back to this plane. If the closure assembly included two panel sets, this meant that the user had to push inwardly simultaneously the outer panels of both panel sets so as, for instance, to engage a tongue on the vertical free edge of one outer panel into a groove in the vertical free edge of the other outer panel. Additionally, the door assembly of French patent of addition No. 71-09561 must include locking means to keep each closure assembly in its closed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,066,730 shows a typical prior art guidance arrangement which differs from the present invention in that it does not show any second guiding roller which is adapted to engage the unobstructed vertical surface of the channel. Further, a rigid stop is employed rather than resilient so that the toggle (or over dead center) effect can not be achieved.